The USDA Veterinary Services Laboratories announced that the inconclusive screening test sample for bovine spongiform encephalopathy reported on November 18 has tested negative upon confirmatory testing. The November 18 sample was the first to test inconclusive under an August U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service protocol that requires public reporting of screening results after two reactive screens. Since the November 18 sample was found reactive in both screenings, two confirmatory tests were performed. Both tests came back negative. "APHIS began an enhanced surveillance program on June 1 and to date has tested over 121,000 samples for BSE," said John Clifford, deputy administrator of APHIS. "Screening tests are designed to be extremely sensitive and false positives are not unexpected. APHIS has reported three inconclusives including the November 18 sample, and all have tested negative on confirmatory testing." <HOME>
